The Date
by Tanith2011
Summary: One detective decides to have a little too much fun at the expense of the other. A little one-shot.


"It's not a date!" Mike Stone reiterated for the umpteenth time.

"Hmm, let me see," the young Homicide Inspector teased. He snatched up the newspaper off the desk and smirked as he read the advertisement circled in red ink, "Madam Florentine's Florists. We pick, we wrap, and we deliver for every occasion."

A bristling Lieutenant Stone was a force to be reckoned with. "Why you! Give me that!" Lunging out of his chair, he made a grab for the newspaper clutched in his partner's hands but only succeeded in knocking over the freshly filled coffee mug when the young man jerked away out of his reach.

"Now look what you've done, Mike. You just spilled your caffeine all over those weekly reports there!" Steve admonished sarcastically. He shook his head and tutted.

Mike tried his best to mop up the mess with handfuls of tissues but some of the papers were clearly a lost cause. Looking up, an evil grin lit up his face, "I just realized something, Buddy Boy."

"Oh yeah? That coffee doesn't go well with your reports?" Steve chuckled.

"Nope. It doesn't go well with _yours_! Aren't these ones at the bottom of my pile the reports you did while I was away last week?" Mike asked, lifting the salvageable folders from the ones that were still drowning in the hot brown liquid.

Steve's smile faded away and his mouth hung wide open in disbelief. He couldn't believe his misfortune. "You son of a…"

"Oh, careful now. You're in enough trouble as it is without cursing your way down to rock bottom!" Mike warned playfully.

"Do you know how much time I spent last week working on those?" Steve snapped, pointing at the sodden files.

"Well then, you better get to it, Buddy Boy, because as of now, I'm off for the afternoon and I expect to see your reports from last week as well as mine from this week in clean, coffee free, readable order first thing tomorrow morning," Mike instructed. Grabbing his coat and keys, he prepared to leave the office when a gentle knock on the door drew his attention.

"Is this a bad time, Mike?" Inspector Martin asked politely.

"No, not at all, Irene. I'm just getting my things together," Mike replied warmly.

"Hello, Irene. How are you?" Steve greeted with a smile.

"I'm very well, thank you. Anything interesting in the paper?" Inspector Martin replied, curiosity getting the better of her when she noted the possessive grip the young man had on the newspaper in his hands.

"Oh this? Funny you should ask that. I was just wondering the same thing, wasn't I,_ Michael_?" Steve answered, shifting his gaze from Irene to Mike and making sure when his eyes met his partner's that they shot him with razor sharp daggers.

Mike gave a nervous laugh then hastily rounded the desk, ignoring his protégé. "I think we better get going. Shall we, Irene?" He took Inspector Martin by the elbow and started steering her out of the office.

"Don't you think we should wait for your delivery?" Steve called out pointedly.

"Oh, you were expecting something?" Irene asked.

"Nothing important," Mike said shaking his head, but it was too late and several sets of eyes searched for him when his name was called out by a man dressed in a courier's uniform.

"Delivery for Mike Stone?" a young man called out as he stood with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in the middle of the bureau.

Steve cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted from Mike's cubicle, "Over here!"

Mike's face reddened as everyone stopped in their tracks to watch the courier approach the Lieutenant and hand him the bouquet. Hastily he signed the receipt and hissed, "You were supposed to wait downstairs! I gave specific instructions over the phone to wait for me in the lobby!"

"Sorry, Sir, but I was told you were going to be there at twelve and I have another delivery, so I asked the guard and he sent me up," the delivery man explained.

"I said twelve thirty…oh, never mind. Here," Mike brusquely replied, giving the man a tip for his troubles. Once the courier left, he turned to Irene and held out the bouquet. "Just a little something. It was meant to be a surprise but, well, it's just a little something. No big deal."

"Mike, they're beautiful! Thank you," Irene gushed. She reached up and kissed Mike on the cheek.

"You're welcome. Let's go," Mike said beaming from ear to ear.

When the couple faced the bureau, suddenly everyone had something to do and Mike appreciated them at least pretending to mind their own business. It was the kind of respect he expected from his young partner, especially today, yet seemed to be non-existent.

"Hey Mike!" Steve called out. "Enjoy the date!"

THE END...or is it?

_**Author's Note: Hi all, I'm back...sort-of... Please bear with me while I ease my way back into fan fiction writing. I've missed this so much and hope to return in full swing someday. I've just had so much happening in real life that I ran out of room to squeeze this in :-) I'm probably going to be a little rusty but we'll see how I go...**_


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